Following the numerous back-to-back posts, the past week has been a little slower car-wise. I can update the blog with this now though.

Browsing one of the forums I’m on, I spotted this piece for sale for a great price so I bought it right away. It’s Steeda’s short throw shifter bracket, an inexpensive and relatively easy to install part which reduces the throw of the shifter by about 35%. That’s it in the taped-up ball of bubble wrap. Tiny!

I had been considering this part for a while but was hesitant to order it because I maintain the Focus’ shifter feels the best of any car I’ve ever driven; that includes a G8 GXP, GT500s, and even mid-90’s Saturns. I have changed the stock shift knob for a Blox weighted piece though and it makes shifting pretty much effortless. However, for the price I could afford to order the bracket to test it. The worst case scenario with this is I don’t like it, and just sell it on to a Mk3 owner that does want it.

Installation requires the removal of the intake and battery, but the intake needs to come out anyway to fix a minor issue with the MAF sensor housing. I’ll try to find some time soon to get this in. I’m looking forward to testing it out.

-Bill